Along the Dirt Road
by iPwnNano
Summary: A collection of one-shots of our favorite travelling pair. Kino and Hermes centric.
1. The Girl Named Kino

**The Girl Named Kino**

There once was a young girl named Kino. With no one but herself, she lived up in a high tower that stood above the barren wasteland that she had come to know as the 'world'. Never before has Kino ventured anywhere aside from the confinements of her home. She doesn't wish to either. For she knew that no matter how far one travelled out into the wasteland, there would be nothing for her to find. Due to this, Kino knew what it meant when someone said 'hell is a place on earth' because she was already living in it.

_"This world is empty, therefore it is anything but beautiful."_

Not able to bear with the blanket of black nothingness that covered her world - her life - Kino would lay in bed and close her eyes. She would dream of the bright circle that travelled across a hovering blue blanket which stretched over the world endlessly; just like the one she saw in books. When she thought of a world that was anything but hers, _that_ was the first image that came to mind.

_"The sun and sky are always part of my world, no matter where I go. I can always look up and there they will be."_

Kino's gray, textureless ground would now be a healthy lush green. For miles and miles, there would be hills that rolled on forever as well as plains that ran across the land, sometimes even turning into a sandy, yellow desert with many exotic forms of wildlife. But most importantly, there would be roads.

_"Roads will direct where I may go. They are the the key to my journey and destination." _

Her mind would continue to paint many sceneries of forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, and even the tiniest pebble. She would think up even the strangest of creatures and give them names. There would be things she would be able to hear, taste, touch, see, and smell. There would be seasons of which the earth's moods shifted forms with. Even the most disastrous things like earthquakes existed.

_"The world will always be changing. Nothing, not even I, can do anything to stop it." _

But the most fascinating part were the countries and people. Yes, there would be humans just like Kino. These humans would be just like tiny little insects on this earth. But unlike insects, these humans would try to shape this world to which they see fit. Love, joy, sadness, or hatred; each country will have their own reasons for why they do the things they do. And sometimes, maybe they don't even understand these reasons themselves.

_"Humans are always searching for something in life, or have something to look forward to. I am no different...I am always looking forward." _

Then Kino would drift off into the deepest parts of her subconcious. It was during this time when she was no longer part of the world of nothing. Instead, she could be found in the world she had painted. She would explore this world accompanied by a talking motorrad named Hermes. Together, they would travel this world knowing that it would never end. After all, it was the reflection of the girl's heart and soul. Boundless. Endless.

_"I visited the Country of Visible Pain where even the utmost empathy can be life-threatening. _

_I felt obliged to help a band of cannibals at the expense of another creature's life. _

_I've seen a country of endless sorrow, which eventually became another country's prophecy. _

_I met three men on the railroad who've done nothing but work and yet have found fulfillment in their lives. _

_I've freed a country of slaves by annihilating its nobility. _

_I've seen a girl's supposedly impossible dream come true. _

_I've discovered that even the most beautiful thing like a mother's love could become something so hideous. _

_I've met a girl just like me. Only to have her ripped away from me by the inevitable."_

When the young girl Kino wakes up, she is greeted by the gray walls of her own room. Outside, it is still the same black void that constantly mocks her for her far-fetched dreams. Silently she waits for sleep to overcome her so that she may begin her journey again.

This is the girl named Kino.


	2. Through the Forest

**Through the Forest**

The sun finally reached its highest point in the sky causing the day to become brighter than ever. Kino had to squint a bit for her eyes to adjust properly as she sped down the dirt road that divided into two separate paths; one that continued to travel across the terrain and the other leading into a thick forest. Making a stop, Kino dismounted the motorrad, Hermes, and pulled out the map she had purchased earlier from a passing vendor. Several moments passed as Kino continued to stare back-and-forth between the map and two paths.

"Are we lost?"

Kino muttered a small 'no' at her companion's question and finally tucked away the map. She patted the seat of the motorrad as if to say; "Sorry, but you're going to have to bear with this for a while" and slung her body onto it.

"Don't tell me that you're going to go through that forest!" Hermes complained, "I've already gotten enough scratches just riding on this poorly constructed road!"

"Well, it's the shortest way into the next country." Kino responded as she started the engine. Hermes merely scoffed.

"Always have to do things your way, huh?"

With Kino's lack of response, Hermes knew it was the traveller's own way of saying; "Yup."

There was a significant increase in the road's roughness as their journey through the forest proved to be less than pleasant for both Kino and Hermes. The road was ridiculously bumpy that Kino had to tighten her grip on the handles to avoid flying off and the scratches received from sharp rocks being kicked up by Hermes' wheels didn't help either. Every so often Kino had to make a stop to wipe off the mud that continue to fly up and cover her goggles and Hermes' headlight. This being their twentieth stop, Kino found that both her sleeves and hand-kerchief were too filthy to clean with anymore.

"You look like a mud-man, Kino." Hermes said while watching his master search for something else to wipe themselves off with.

"Can't say you look anymore flattering yourself, Hermes." Kino smirked. The motorrad only grunted.

"So how are we going to clean up?"

Kino attempted to remove some of the drying mud from Hermes' headlight with her nails, but with little success. "I doubt there's anyone living here, so I guess we'll have to put up with it until we reach the next country."

"Oh yes, I'm sure they'll be thrilled to see two piles of mud travelling into their country." Hermes remarked dryly.

It seemed like an another hour as they passed through the forest. But with the tree tops covering the sky, it was difficult to tell how much time had passed since then. There was nothing but the sounds of screeching forest creatures and the squishing noise of mud they made as they travelled along the path. Due to the lack of light, Kino struggled to stay on the road because of the dim lighting the mud covering Hermes' headlight caused. It wasn't long until the wheels finally slipped against the wet and loose dirt, causing the both of them to fall.

Just as Kino got back up to pull up Hermes, who was already complaining, the sound of a pair of footsteps neared behind them. Alerted, Kino drew the Persuader hanging around her waist and immediately pointed it at the intruder, ready to defend herself at all costs.

It was a woman.

"Ah! Please don't shoot us!" The person cried desperately. She didn't raise her hands because in her arms was a brightly-lit lantern and something wrapped in many layers of cloth. Instead, the person got down her knees as if to beg for mercy. Kino cautiously lowered her weapon and examined the person cowering before her. The woman didn't seem to carry any weapons and her tattered and worn-out clothes were far from what any traveller would wear.

"May I ask you what you're doing here, ma' am?" Kino asked. The woman clutched the bundle in her arms tighter and only responded by giving Kino a paranoid and fearful stare. It was clear that this woman had been separated from her home for some time now -- if she had a home that is. "I promise I won't hurt you." Kino said more softly to comfort the trembling woman.

The woman looked up with tears and an anxious look in her eyes. "W-We're lost..."

"Who's 'we'?"

Holding up the bundle towards Kino with weak arms, the woman spoke. "My child and I."

Upon seeing the woman's filthy, unfed, and bruised body, Kino could only assume that the child wrapped in those cloths was in no better condition if not worse. With her usual indifferent eyes, Kino reached out to help the woman onto her feet. "Can I ask you a question?" Kino asked. The woman feebly nodded.

"What are you and your child doing in a place like this?"

"We were cast out from our country." The woman replied, a bit more calm under Kino's stoic gaze.

"I see."

Kino walked over to Hermes, who was silent the entire time, and rummaged through the cargo strapped to the back. Pulling out some cooking tools, Kino beckoned the woman with her baby over.

"I'll be setting up camp here," Kino said, "If you want, you and your child can spend the night with Hermes and I. I'll feed and provide the both of you with some blankets for the night." It was probably no more than day at the time, but since there was nothing but the bright lighting of the woman's lantern, Kino decided it was best that they rest so they can travel and hopefully make it out of this forest by tomorrow.

When Kino finally got a fire going, she handed the woman a few nutrition bars she had saved from the previous town and took a few of her own to eat. With Hermes at her side, the both of them watched as the woman attempted to feed the child with the nutrition bars by chewing on it herself and transferring it into the baby's mouth with her own. The two companions said nothing as they witnessed the less than pleasant looking process.

"So why were the two of you cast out from your country?" Kino finally spoke, "If you don't mind me asking."

Once the woman finished tending to her baby, she looked up at Kino. A look of remorse was evident in her eyes, but Kino managed to catch the hint of bitterness that lurked among those lifeless orbs. It was as if she was struggling to find the right words for hers and her child's misfortune, but it appeared that words could not even begin to describe whatever it was that they had experienced. So instead, with a look of sorrow and despair, the woman unraveled the cloths that had been shielding the baby's appearance from Kino and Hermes' sight all this time.

The baby's skin was thick, bulgy, and with a greenish-yellow color to it. Its eyes were barely visible due to the swollen skin bulging over them and a mouth was nearly non-existent. Two tiny holes sat in the centre of its face and it was clear that the child could barely breath as its intake of oxygen seemed forced and strained. The skin had a greasy look to it but as the woman stroked her child's face affectionately, the skin seemed crack under the pressure.

Kino's unwavering gaze slowly made its way from the baby's face to the woman's. "Is this why you two were cast out?"

When Kino asked this, it seemed like the woman struggled to find a sense of judgement from Kino. The woman didn't understand why Kino did not scream or even look away in disgust. All she could find was the traveler who always held an aimless and desireless look in her eyes.

"My country deemed those who are born with deformities, even with something like a twisted leg, to be unfit to function properly in society and were considered only a burden." The woman said softly, "So they cast out the weak and keep only the strong."

"Then where do you plan to go with your baby?" Hermes piped up.

The fragile body of the woman trembled, "I don't know," she began to sob, "There's no place in this world for my baby. But even if I continue to wander through lands like the both of you are, I won't even be able to protect him!"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kino said, "But this country you speak of, is it the one that's a few miles ahead at the end of this forest?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just wondering."

Nothing more was said, but while the woman and her baby slept, Kino and Hermes knew that this was going to be one of those rare and sleepless nights for them.

* * *

"Ma'am?" Kino shook the flimsy woman carefully as if she was a delicate piece of thin paper. "My companion and I are leaving now."

There was no response.

Kino kneeled by the woman's side. Taking her wrist in her hand, Kino checked if there was still a pulse. But all she could feel was her two fingers on lifeless, cold skin. It seemed that the woman's health was far from being saved even if Kino had given her all her nutrition bars. The traveller said nothing as she gently placed the motionless arm at the woman's side.

"What about the baby?" Hermes asked, who stood behind Kino.

The baby lay in his mother's arms, his arms faintly squirming. He seemed to be staring up at the person hovering above he and his mother, wondering what she would do to him.

There was a sudden click at Kino's side. Hermes said nothing while watching Kino remove the Persuader from her waist, ever so slowly. Kino's gaze remained on the baby and it was only until the deadly weapon was pointing at the baby's head did Hermes see her tremble so slightly. Then she immediately withdrew the gun and placed it back at her waist.

Getting up, Kino mounted the motorrad with a soft; "Let's go."

Their trip out of the forest was nothing but silence. But even when they were finally travelling along hills and plains, nothing was said between the both of them for a long while.

"Why did you do that, Kino?" Hermes asked curiously. Kino didn't respond for a few long moments before speaking.

"Do what?"

"Why did you think about killing him?"

There were so many things Kino could never answer or at least fully explain. But it was only because she didn't even understand it herself.

"When that child was left without his mother," Kino began, "I wondered if it would have been cruel..." She trailed off, leaving Hermes debating whether she was re-gathering her thoughts or simply couldn't say it.

"What would have been cruel, Kino?"

"To let him live." Kino finally said, no hint of emotion in her voice.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Kino's body tensed as she tightened her grip on the handlebars and said nothing. At all.

They drove on for another half an hour, leaving Hermes' question in limbo. It seemed that Kino wasn't going to, or couldn't answer his question.

"But in the end," Hermes finally broke the tense silence, "You let him live, right?"

Taking a turn that led away from the country that they had intended to visit, Kino stared down the new path they were taking and finally spoke.

"I don't know, Hermes. I don't know if killing him or letting him live is any worse than the other."


	3. A Tale of Partying

**A Tale of Partying**

Hermes was afraid. Very afraid.

His companion was on the floor, hands clutching at her sides, and grinning for particular reason. She had been like this for the past fifteen minutes and the entire time Hermes was beginning to grow uncomfortable at each passing moment. Her eyes were becoming increasingly drowsy and every so often Hermes had to shout to keep her concious. His engine would rumble in frustration at the fact that he couldn't do anything to help her except watch.

"Kino! Get up!"

There was a painful metallic sound in said person's ears. Moaning, her hands searched for a pillow of some kind to block it out, but only skated along a flat wooden surface. It took a few moments to realize that her face was planted into the hard, rough floor. Steadily, she got onto her knees and attempted to make her way towards the bed in front of her. However, it appeared that putting one foot in front of the other was not as simple as it was three hours ago. She was feeling a lot happier than usual, even though she was sprawled on the ground once again. Kino giggled.

"This is so not like you," Hermes said, "To think that you've degraded yourself to this kind of state."

There was only a groan in response.

"I'm even surprised you even managed to stand up."

Another uncharacteristic giggle. "Hermes?"

"What is it, Kino? And no, I can't carry you to your bed."

There was a long moment of silence. The motorrad waited for his master patiently.

"Did I tell you I think you're awesome?"

Hermes sighed. It was going to be a long night.

_Earlier this morning..._

Kino blinked at the slight abusurdity of what the wooden sign read. "...Interesting."

"The Land of Partying?" Hermes suddenly said, "That's something you don't see everyday. Are we seriously going to stay there, Kino?"

"Why not? We've already come this far." Kino responded and readjusted her seat before starting up the motorrad's engine. Together, the young traveller and her partner sped down the gravel leading into the country. Even from a distance, they could already see how lively the country as they watched balloons of many bright colors emerge from behind its country's walls and into the sky. It almost looked as if the sky was covered in colorful gumdrops.

"It's funny, you were never the partying-type Kino." Hermes remarked, "So it'll be priceless when I finally get to see you play musical chairs!" The motorrad's engine rumbled with childish laughter at the thought of Kino fighting for a chair whenever the music that played came to halt.

Kino rolled her eyes, "What makes you think I would even do that?"

"Well," Hermes started, "If all the people do in that country is party. Then surely you'll have no choice but to participate in at least one of their events. Even if it's embarassing."

"...I suppose," Kino said slowly, not liking what she was getting herself into the more she thought about it, "Then I'll just have to be careful and stay on the sidelines as much as possible, huh?"

Hermes didn't hear her. He was too caught up in seeing Kino act like anything but her usually cool and well-composed self. It was an opportunity that was too good to pass up. "I wonder what you'll be doing. Maybe Pin the Tail on the Donkey, or beat up a pinata, or a sack race, or-"

"Hermes..."

"Or maybe even strip poker!"

"That's it. I'm turning around."

"W-wait! Kino, I was only kidding! Don't go back!"

Passing the country's inspection and settling at an inn was simple enough. But deciding where to go next was another thing. Every direction the two companions looked in always had some kind of event going on that it was almost impossible to know where to start. But you would always find people laughing and dancing no matter which way you looked. It was rather comforting to the young traveller to see a country in such high spirits after the last few countries they had visited.

"Hey look!" Hermes cried as Kino pushed through the large masses, "It's a casino!"

Ahead of them was a large building with several blinking lights hanging from it despite the time of day. They could hear upbeat, jazz-like music playing from inside along with excited shouts and laughter.

"Hmm, maybe we could get something to eat there," Kino said as she pushed Hermes toward it.

As the course of the companions' day went by, Kino found herself sluggishly slouching on a bench by evening with Hermes at her side. The young traveller's legs were beat as she and Hermes had only covered a small portion of the country's events. But what was even more exhausting was seeing that the people around didn't look anywhere near as tired as them.

"So what next Kino?" Hermes finally spoke. Kino looked at the motorrad as if it were crazy. "What? There's so many other events we haven't seen!"

"The only event I want to go to is the one where we go to sleep." Kino stated, "I'm exhausted."

Hermes made a small 'hmph' noise as Kino got up and started making their way back to the inn. "Party popper."

Kino chuckled, "You mean party pooper?"

"Uh, yeah. That's what I meant."

_15 minutes later..._

Kino shuffled into the room with an oversized mug in her hands and took a seat at a small, red couch that was included with the room. She let out a sigh as she stared down at it.

"Took you long enough," Hermes said as he watched his friend frown at the drink, "What's wrong with it, Kino?"

"Nothing, " Kino responded, "I'm just a bit surprised that they don't sell any water at this time."

"Is something wrong with not having water?" Hermes asked, wondering why Kino was being a bit picky of what she was drinking.

Kino let out another sigh, "There's nothing but alcoholic beverages at this time." she explained.

"Oh, really?"

"Apparantly so."

"You don't like alcohol Kino?" Hermes asked innocently, obviously unaware of the effects it could cause if one did not handle it very well.

Setting the down drink in her lap, Kino looked at the motorrad with a blank expression. "To be honest, I've never tried it before."

"You've eaten a lot of weird-looking food in the past," Hermes pointed out, "Why's this any different?"

"Because I'm aware of what I'm getting myself into."

"But it's just the two of us."

Kino paused for a moment. Her friend had a point. If anything were to really happen then at least she would be inside this room with only a motorrad as her audience. Besides, how bad could drinking actually be as long as she controlled it? Taking the cup into her hands, Kino took a sip of the clear beverage. The bitter taste came as a bit of shock, but after a while it didn't really seem to matter anymore.

_"This is really beginning to taste like water..." _Kino thought as she stared down at it.

Hermes watched silently as his companion's sips grew larger every time she drank. In fact, it was almost to the point where she seemed to drink it so casually that he began to wonder if everything was alright. When the motorrad voiced this, Kino didn't seem to hear him. It went on like this for another hour or so before Hermes realized that something was definitely wrong.

"You're turning pink," Hermes said slowly, "Are you alright?"

Kino's mind was buzzing so loudly that Hermes' words only to came to her as incoherent sounds. _Stop, just put the drink down before you cause youself some misery, _was what the sensible part of her brain told her. But another part of her, the undeveloped and nearly non-existant part that made her somewhat of a hedonist, told her to just indulge herself in this strange happy feeling she was getting from drinking. Unfortunately, Kino listened to the latter.

"Hey Hermes," Kino finally said, grinning, "Wa-watch this!"

If Hermes was able to look away, he would of done so. But since the poor motorrad was only able to face what was in front of him; in this case a drunken Kino, he could only watch as the disaster unfolded.

The young traveller, with arms extended in front of her, began to walk towards the wall across from her. It was clear that she had lost her sense of balance sometime ago before toppling over on the floor. She giggled for no reason.

"Kino you're a mess," Hermes said, "Seriously."

"You're so silly Hermes." Kino laughed before rolling on her stomach to make a snow angel.

"Uh, Kino. That's not how you do it. And that's not even snow."

Little did Hermes realize that he and Kino were going to be like this until morning. All he could was watch as his normally stoic companion make a fool of herself until sleep overcame her.

_The next morning..._

"Hermes?" Kino suddenly said as they were speeding down the road, leaving the country. She had a tiny headache upon waking up and the entire time had said nothing to the motorrad until now.

Hermes grunted, "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about last night," Kino said, feeling a bit guilty at the thought of something she had no memory of. She honestly had no recollection of the events and could only assume the worse since Hermes had not said a word as well.

"It's okay," Hermes said, "You did look pretty funny."

"Remind me to never do something like that again." Kino sighed as she stared at the road ahead.

"Yeah," Hermes rumbled with laughter, "After all, you were never really the partying type."

At this, Kino couldn't help but laugh as well.


End file.
